Big Bend National Park

2/25/2008 Big Bend National Park
On Sunday we left Seminole Canyon and headed for Terlingua and Big Bend National Park. The road, (90), was really good and the drive to Alpine was uneventful. The Border patrol is everywhere so we felt safe Finding fuel in Alpine was another matter. There were several places that sold diesel but only one into which we could fit and it was 30 cents a gallon higher! I can see the toolbox tank combo is definitely needed.
After fueling we drove south on Texas 118, climbed a steep ands curvy road, before finally reaching the plateau and becoming easy. From there it was another easy drive to Terlingua and Study Butte... We passed some land that was for sale on eBay and is still for sale……… We got to the rv park, checked in, and then changed spots as we couldn’t fit in the spot they gave us. After we unhitched I discovered their cable didn’t work, oh well. All in all it is kind of a dump, but it is only three miles from the park.
The next day we got a late start, 9:30, and drove through the park to make a list of the things to do. The park is a desert and reminds us a lot of the Red Desert in Wyoming. The first stop was at the visitor center where we bought a good map and talked with the ranger about hiking and four wheeling. After getting about a month’s ideas of things to do the next drive was to Rio Grande Village, (Among other things we were told, before we got to the park, that the south rim is awesome. Hiking to it is closed, with no reason given. We were also told that the National Guard is rebuilding a 52 mile road for the Border patrol.) Home land security has closed the border here. It is disappointing as there are two small villages that tourists used to visit but are now off limits.)
At the village we checked out the campgrounds, the store, watched an old video and drove to Boquillas Canton. A road runner greeted us and went into his display! The cottonwoods showered us with cotton and we saw a wild boar in the picnic area. A place to come back to! The temperature reached 97 so it was time to go back home and get into air conditioning. Clear skies.